A Newmilns man handed his dog over to the police to be destroyed after it attacked another dog and a man in the street.

At Kilmarnock Sheriff Court this week, Colin Smith, 42, of High Street, was fined a total of £460 and ordered to pay the victim of the dog attack £100 in compensation.

Smith – who has a previous conviction under the Dangerous Dogs Act – pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control in High Street in May last year.

He also admitted breaching dog control notice by failing to keep the Staffordshire bull terrier on a lead and failing to inform East Ayrshire Council of his change of address.

Sentence was previously deferred to ascertain what had happened to the animal.

Isobel Vincent, prosecuting, said: “The reporting officer has confirmed that the accused voluntarily surrendered the dog to be destroyed.”

Allan Kerr, defending, said that Smith realised, after the latest incident, that he could not control the dog.

His client, he said, had got the dog from the pound, hoping that he could give it a good home.

After the previous offence, which involved the same dog, Smith always took it out muzzled and on a lead.

Said the solicitor: “On this occasion, he answered the door and the dog ran out. It got involved with another dog and the owner got involved trying to separate them.”

The owner of the other animal suffered a cut to his left index finger, the court heard.

“He had his hand in the dog’s mouth to get it away from his dog,” said Mr Kerr.

He told the court that Smith had owned Staffordshire bull terriers for many years without incident.

Smith believed that this particular dog may have been mistreated or even used for fighting.

Mr Kerr said that Smith now had a bull terrier pup which was doing well.

Sheriff Iona McDonald said that she had been considering banning Smith from owning dogs.

But she told Smith: “The dog was surrendered voluntarily by you to the police and has now been destroyed. In those circumstances I am satisfied I do not have to do that. In the circumstances I will deal with this by way of a financial penalty.”